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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Cleaner's Supply Adopts NetSuite for B2B and B2C Expansion

NetSuite, a leading provider of cloud-based financials, ERP, and omnichannel software suites, recently announced that Cleaner's Supply, Inc., the largest distributor of dry cleaning supplies in North America has adopted NetSuite's SuiteCommerce to manage and streamline its core business processes and operations across multiple channels, including a call center of 46 sales representatives as well as B2B and B2C e-commerce sites.

Cleaner's Supply also plans to rely on NetSuite for sales force automation, customer support, customer service and marketing automation. This modernization effort will allow the company to gain a real-time, 360-degree customer view, deliver a seamless omnichannel customer experience globally, and improve sales effectiveness.

The Conklin, N.Y.-based company realized that its old commerce system couldn't support the company's growth. After evaluating several options during the software selection process, the company selected NetSuite SuiteCommerce for the following features and benefits:

•Mobile support: SuiteCommerce's built-in responsive web design capabilities automatically serve up content in the most appropriate layout for the customer's device. With its previous system, about half of customers clicking through on a Cleaner's Supply promotional email did so from a mobile device, but quickly bounced because the legacy site couldn't optimize the experience on smartphones and tablets.

•B2B-specific functionality: NetSuite SuiteCommerce supports B2B-specific functionality such as invoice billing, credit limits, ACH processing, bulk ordering, customer-specific and quantity-based pricing and purchase-to-pay to enable transactions among business buyers.

•An integrated platform to support B2B and B2C: Cleaner's Supply can meet growing B2B customer expectations for a rich, intuitive buying experience on par with leading B2C ecommerce sites—all from one, integrated commerce platform.

•New cross-sell and promotional opportunities: SuiteCommerce offers capabilities to target personalized offers to customers based on purchase history, interests and anticipated replenishment needs through both ecommerce and call center channels, and retarget shoppers abandoning shopping carts.

Today, more than 20,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as a leading provider of enterprise-class cloud financials/ERP suites for divisions of large enterprises and mid-sized organizations seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. To learn more about SuiteCommerce and the Cleaner's Supply implementation, visit the NetSuite News Center.

The Brown Smith Wallace Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about the latest editions.

You can also request these guides, as well as all other materials, via our website: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 
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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Clorox Selects Epicor Informance for Chicago Manufacturing Facility

The Clorox Company is a global manufacturer of food, chemical, and consumer products. Best known for namesake bleach product, Clorox, the company’s manufacturing site in Chicago, Illinois is responsible for producing a large portfolio of its bleach products to serve the Midwestern United States. This high-speed, mixed-mode manufacturing plant operates 24/5, running two 8 to 10-hour production shifts per day, and on average produces nearly 15,000 cases per shift.

Clorox had several challenges that needed to be overcome. Those included:
• Replace manual processes with automated data capture and accurate, consistent efficiency metrics
• Boost overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
• Build a culture of understanding and driving out losses on the plant floor
• Accurately benchmark against other plants across the Clorox cleaning products division

After reviewing several different vendors, Epicor Informance was selected and fully implemented within two months. Informance provides the ability to track all key production components of the site’s molding and packaging lines, including 15 individual machines.

Additional benefits of utilizing the Epicor Informance Enterprise Manufacturing Intelligence (EMI) system included:

• Real-time scorecards and scoreboards on the shop floor
• Easy-to-use, easy-to-understand visual solution to drive root cause analysis
• Out-of-the-box visibility, reporting, and analysis for fast time-to-value
• Pre-implementation project ensured successful startup at go-live

Epicor Software Corporation delivers business software solutions to the manufacturing, distribution, retail, and service industries. With more than 40 years of experience, Epicor has more than 20,000 customers in over 150 countries.

To read more about the Clorox Manufacturing case study, visit the Epicor Customer Success News blog.

The Brown Smith Wallace Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about the latest editions.

You can also request these guides, as well as all other materials, via our website: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 
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Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Advanced Supply Chain and Warehouse Management Systems

Whether the warehouse is at the plant holding raw materials and parts, or dedicated to finished goods somewhere in the distribution chain, companies want to get the best usage of the space available and the people and equipment employed in the handling of the items stored.

A Warehouse Management System (WMS) is dedicated to those goals. Basic functions of WMS include directed put-away and picking, in conjunction with optimizing the use of space. Without computer assistance, goods are usually assigned to a specific location or at least segment of the warehouse. With computerized put-away (also called random location system), the computer can direct incoming goods to the ‘right’ location – one that makes the best use of space while placing the goods in the most convenient location for picking.

In addition to optimizing space and resources, WMS, working with and interfaced ERP system, can share the duties of inventory control including batch/lot traceability, and monitoring and enforcing shelf-life and first-in-first-out and other picking strategies. More advanced WMS functionality can develop and manage dock schedules, interfaces and directs automated material handling equipment including guided vehicles and carousels, and gathers detailed data on all warehouse activities for analysis and process improvement efforts.

To learn more about the Advanced Supply Chain WMS for manufacturers and distributors, and the features they can provide, visit the Advanced Supply Chain Software website.

The Brown Smith Wallace Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about the latest editions.

You can also request these guides, as well as all other materials, via our website: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Pelco Selects Tofino RMS For Inventory Management

For over two years, Pelco, a global specialist in energy and security management, had been searching for an easy-to-use inventory management and replenishment solution. Specifically, Pelco needed a solution that would allow them to track inventory usage to specific account codes, coupled with automatic replenishment capabilities driven by defined min/max levels. Comprehensive requisition and reporting capabilities were also required.

Tofino’s RMS (Resource Management Software) solution was selected due to the company's commitment to providing industry-leading supply chain management solutions and developing innovative solutions for the manufacturing, distribution, and e-commerce sectors including real-time management of inventory, asset, maintenance, and procurement requirements. As Tofino offers a Cloud solution, no interaction with Pelco’s IT team was necessary, and no additional hardware was required. With support for virtually any barcode scanner, Pelco’s existing devices worked perfectly. Tofino's integrated suite of Cloud applications provided the flexibility to align operations with overall business objectives. 

To read more about Tofino's RMS system and to read additional customer case studies, visit the Tofino Newsroom.

The Brown Smith Wallace Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guides are currently available for download. Please contact snelson@bswllc.com for more information about the latest editions.

You can also request these guides, as well as all other materials, via our website: http://www.software4distributors.com/vendor/resources_index.aspx

 
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